Month: August 2022

Following an hours-long standoff, a suspect was killed Thursday afternoon in a gunfire exchange with officers in response to the suspect’s attempt to breach the Cincinnati FBI field office building at around 9 a.m.  Ohio State Highway Patrol Lt. Nathan Dennis said in a news briefing Thursday evening that the suspect ended the standoff by firing at officers; officers returned fire and the suspect died on the scene. No officers were injured in the confrontation. The suspect’s identity has not been confirmed.

Ohio Highway Patrol troopers and local law enforcement agents responded to the alleged breach attempt Thursday morning at the FBI field office, with the suspect allegedly attempting to break in through the visitor screening center. The FBI said the individual fled following an immediate response from special agents, prompting law enforcement to shut down roughly a one-mile stretch of a nearby highway and issue a lockdown warning for residents and businesses in the surrounding area.

Authorities did not give any indication of a possible motive for the breach, and said the incident is still under investigation. The incident came one day after FBI Director Christoper Wray delivered a warning about violent threats circulating online in the aftermath of this week’s FBI search at former President Donald Trump’s Florida residence, Mar-a-Lago.

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On Thursday, U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland said the Justice Department has filed a legal motion in the southern district of Florida to unseal the warrant and FBI property receipt in the search of former President Donald Trump’s Mar-A-Lago residence. Garland said he personally approved the search warrant, and that Trump’s counsel was given a copy of the search warrant and FBI property receipt at Mar-A-Lago on Monday during the search.  Said the Attorney General: “The Justice Department has filed a motion in the southern district of Florida to unseal a search warrant and property receipt relating to a court approved search the FBI conducted earlier this week. That search was a premises in southern Florida belonging to the former president.”

Garland added:  “The department filed a motion to make public the warrant and receipt in light of the former president’s public confirmation of the search, the surrounding circumstances and the substantial public interest in this matter. Faithful adherence to the rule of law is the bedrock principle of the Justice Department and of our democracy. Upholding the rule of law means applying the law evenly without fear or favor. Under my watch, that is precisely what the Justice Department is doing.”

Garland also defended the department from the attacks by Republicans about its credibility and independence: “I will not stand by silently when their integrity is unfairly attacked. The men and women of the FBI and Justice Department are dedicated, patriot public servants. Every day they protect the American people form violent crime, terrorism and other threats to their safety, while safeguarding our civil rights.”

Garland said the search warrant was authorized by a court upon probable cause. The FBI carried out the warrant as part of a court-authorized search related to an investigation into potential mishandling of classified documents that ended up at Mar-a-Lago.

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